


Little Monkeys

by Happy45



Series: Family Portraits [2]
Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: BFFP, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26753890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happy45/pseuds/Happy45
Summary: Sylvie hates Halloween and she certainly doesn't want her kids getting caught up in the craziness of it.
Relationships: Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Series: Family Portraits [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149929
Comments: 24
Kudos: 78





	Little Monkeys

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> This is my contribution to the October prompt challenge. It's set it the same world as Family Portraits.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

_“I hate Halloween.”_

Matt looked up from his desk to find his wife standing at the door, a large box in her arms and a pout on her face.

“Yeah, you do” he said with a nod. She’d been mumbling that phrase _all_ week so he was _more_ than aware of Sylvie's feelings towards the holiday. In fact, her hatred of Halloween was one of the first things he’d ever learned about her. Hermann had been talking about getting a clown for Max’s birthday and Sylvie had _shivered_ and announced that there were two things in this world that she would _never_ be ok with – clowns and Halloween.

“See – _you_ know that. _Everyone_ knows that!” she exclaimed. She walked further into his quarters and dumped the box onto Matt’s bed with a rough sigh, causing Matt to raise his brows. He had no idea where she was going with this and he was quite honestly nervous to find out what was in that box.

Matt stood from his chair and walked towards her. He comfortingly placed his hand on the back of her neck and gently ran his index finger along the bottom of her hairline. “Yeah everybody knows you hate Halloween, but nobody is really quite sure _why._ ” In all the years that they’d known her, nobody had ever thought to ask where this hatred came from.

“The world is crazy enough without people using a holiday as an excuse to do stupid things. We get called to the _dumbest_ situations as paramedics at this time of year.” Sylvie explained as he ran a hand over her forehead. “And then there’s the fact that when I was 5, there was a storm that Halloween and my brother thought it would be hilarious to stand outside my window, in the dark, with a monster mask on. He scared the _crap_ out of me and to this day I have not forgiven him.” Sylvie made clear. She wasn’t one to hold grudges, but this was something would forever hold against Tom – as petty as it was.

Matt let out a light snort at the story. It sounded right on brand for Tom to do something like that. Sylvie said he’d always been a bit of a prankster growing up and even as an adult he lacked a certain level of maturity.

Sylvie wasn’t happy at Matt’s snort - as indistinguishable as it was. Her head snapped round and she glared deeply at her husband as his face fell and he gulped.

“That’s – that’s _cruel_.” He backtracked as Sylvie rolled her eyes and looked down at the box.

“It _was_ cruel.” She agreed. “You said that everybody knows I hate Halloween and you are absolutely right. And the one person who knows better than anyone _just_ how much I hate Halloween is my mother. She was there for the sleepless nights I had after Tom scared me yet she does _this!_ ” she exclaimed as she motioned towards the box.

“… does what exactly?” Matt asked with a confused frown.

Sylvie began aggressively opening the box to show him what was inside. “My mom hates anything to do with magic and witchcraft and spookiness but my _god_ does she love to dress up.”

Matt grinned, “I’ve seen your family photo albums – those costumes were _certainly_ something.” It was one of the first things Martha Brett had shown him when he went to Fowlerton. She was so proud of her creativity and it made Sylvie blush like crazy. There were some wild outfits produced back then. 

“She _thrived_ off dressing us up at Halloween and parading us around Fowlerton and I can’t say that I’m even _remotely_ surprised that she kept every single outfit _and_ she sent them to me today for the kids!” Sylvie explained as she lifted out a giant pink tutu. “This is a tutu for a flamingo by the way if that wasn’t clear.”

Matt’s eyes widened as he began rummaging through the box. Martha really had sent them every costume imaginable for Jack, Elliot and Annie.

 _“Wow…_ ” was all he could say as he lifted out an extravagant peacock costume – feathers and all.

“Annie is only a year old, I cannot subject her to these ridiculous costumes and have them come back to haunt her in years to come.” Sylvie justified. Annie was an easy-going baby, so she probably wouldn’t care, but Sylvie just _couldn’t_ do it.

“I don’t know, I think she’d look pretty cute as a piglet” Matt said as he held up a little hat with a snout on the top of it.

_“No.”_

“Sylvie” Matt began with a sigh as he turned to face her. “You and I both know that if it was any other time of year you would gladly be dressing them up. This is about the fact it’s Halloween.” He could see right through her annoyance. He knew that even if their kids decided to dress up in binbags one day, Sylvie would insist on having a mini photoshoot to document it. She was constantly taking photographs – she never wanted to miss a moment of their lives no matter how small.

“I just don’t want them to get wrapped up in the crazy.” She confessed quietly. “If they get wrapped up in the crazy then maybe they’ll stand outside of windows and scare people.”

“You’re right this Elvis wig is terrifying…” Matt mumbled as he held the wig in his hands. “I’m not kidding, this is _not_ good.” He said again with a grimace. He made a mental note to find the photos of this particular outfit next time he was in Fowlerton.

“It doesn’t even matter because we’re on shift Halloween night, so we’re not there to dress them up even if we wanted to.” she reasoned.

Matt opened his mouth to remind her that Christie was looking after them that night and she _loved_ Halloween, but then he realised it was maybe best to keep that one to himself...

There was a knock at the door as they both turned around and saw Foster standing there with a sheepish look on her face.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt…” she said as she awkwardly stood there with her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels.

Sylvie frowned, “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t be mad…” Foster began as she took a cautious step forward. “But Boden would like you and I to be on trick or treat detail on Halloween night.”

Sylvie closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, “What will that involve exactly?”

“Just keeping a steady supply of candy in the house and manning the table at the apron doors. Not a big deal!” Foster tried to reason. As a paramedic, she grew to understood why Sylvie hated Halloween, so she was always extra cautious around her partner on the holidays.

Sylvie clicked her tongue against her teeth and looked at Matt who remained frozen and a little unsure of how to proceed.

“I swear to God if _one_ kid tries to scare me… ugh, Halloween is the _worst_.” Sylvie grumbled as she snatched a costume from Matt’s hands, threw it back in the box and stormed out of the room with it.

“This is going to be real fun.” Foster grumbled to Matt who gave her a tight-lipped smile and nodded his head. _Fun_ certainly was one word for it.

* * *

Halloween night soon rolled around, and Sylvie was trying to stay in good spirits. She didn’t want to be sir grumps-a-lot over the holiday and around the kids who were just coming here looking for candy, so she put her on her best smile as she waited for evening to roll around and the _fun_ to begin.

She also had a sneaking suspicion that her kids would be engaging in some Halloween activities this evening. Any time she asked Matt about whether Christie had said they would be doing anything, he downplayed it and then immediately changed the subject. It didn’t take a genius to work out why he was doing that. But right now – ignorance was bliss for her. What she didn’t know couldn’t bug her. As long as her kids were having fun and staying safe, all was well.

Late afternoon soon rolled around and while Emily set up the table outside, Sylvie went into the kitchen to get the candy they had bought a few weeks back for tonight. The whole house had been warned not to touch the candy but Sylvie had a sneaking suspicion that it would have been broken into.

What she didn’t expect to find when she got to the cupboard was for the whole bag to be almost empty.

“What happened to all the candy?!” she exclaimed as she starred at what was left.

Mouch turned his head from his seat on the couch, “What candy?” he asked as Sylvie lifted out the bag and held it in front of her, the frustration growing more and more evident on her face.

“Oh. _That_ candy…” Mouch said with a nervous laugh. “I _may_ have eaten some of it, but I will _not_ take full responsibility for the fact that it is almost empty.” He fessed up.

Sylvie clenched her fist around the bag a little bit tighter before quietly storming out of the room. This was just _great._ Now they were going to be the firehouse that every kid on the block hates because they denied them candy.

As she walked through the apparatus floor she remembered that Matt had been at a captain’s meeting downtown all afternoon. She looked at her watch and saw that he was probably getting ready to leave around now – maybe he could be their knight in shining armour (not that that was unusual for the Captain, just last week a kid had called him _Captain America_ when he pulled him out of a car wreck).

She quickly lifted out her phone and dialled his number, unsurprisingly, he picked up after the first few rings.

“Hey babe, what’s up?” he asked down the line as he walked towards his car.

“ _Your_ firefighters raided our candy stash” she said through her teeth.

Matt smirked, “ _My_ firefighters?”

“You are their Captain, aren’t you?” she reasoned as Matt merely chuckled down the line. Sylvie did this all the time when their kids got into trouble. Somehow, they became _his_ kids rather than _theirs._ It appeared that she was _more_ than willing to extend that to the grown men and women of Firehouse 51.

“How much did they eat?”

“Most of it. We’ve got enough to give out to 5 kids max. Would you mind stopping by the store on your way back to the firehouse and picking up some more?” she asked sweetly.

“Yeah of course” he said immediately. “I’m just walking to the car now, I won’t be long.”

Sylvie sighed in relief, “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

Matt beamed down the line, “Yeah you may have mentioned that a few times…”

“Well I _really_ do, thank you.” She said sincerely. She knew it wasn’t a huge gesture but it just served to remind her that even in the smallest moments, her husband always came through.

“You’re welcome, I’ll see you soon.”

* * *

_“You are my hero_ ” Sylvie said as Matt came walking up the apron with two large bags of candy in hand. Before he could even set the bags down on the table, Sylvie skipped toward, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and firmly kissed him in celebration at his success and thankfulness that he came through.

As Sylvie pulled away they smiled brightly at each other, “well if that’s the thanks I’ll receive every time I do a good deed I should do them more often…” he reasoned as he moved to kiss her again.

“Ok you two enough of this cuteness we got kids coming here soon” Foster interrupted as Sylvie reluctantly pulled away from him and let him set the bags down so they could pour the candy into the bowls.

"I got a little extra candy so _my_ firefighters don't feel slighted..." He joked as Sylvie grinned. 

"You always exceed expectations huh?"

"Well someone did tell me I always do more when I can and I was a little _extra_ that way.,." he replied. That conversation he had with Sylvie 7 odd years ago had stuck with him ever since. It was the most refreshing thing to be seen by someone. It was especially refreshing to be seen by someone he admired so much. If someone as good as Sylvie could see _his_ goodness then maybe he was doing something right in this world.

"Well that person was _very_ smart and _very_ wise." Sylvie teasingly bragged.

“You’re in a better mood” Matt observed. He was surprised he didn’t come back to find Sylvie grumbling about how Halloween was the worst. She was _chipper_ even.

Sylvie nodded softly, “Yeah, I mean – look at these kids” she said as she nodded towards the groups of kids that had started flooding the streets. “They’re having the time of their lives right now, getting all the candy that they can. Halloween doesn’t have to be a horrible time of year for _everybody._ ” She reasoned. She still wasn't a fan and was just waiting for someone to try and scare her, but she always tried to look at and understand the other side of things. It was one of the reasons her friends and family loved her so much – she was deeply intuitive and seeing someone else’s joy always brought joy into her life.

“Yeah, it’s not such a bad night” Matt agreed as they looked down the street.

_“Momma! Daddy!”_

Sylvie almost jumped out of her _skin_ at the exclamation, causing Matt to jump too. His momentary scare soon turned to amusement at how on edge Sylvie was at Halloween - even at the sound of her children's voices. Matt comfortingly rubbed her back and let out a little laugh as they turned their heads to see their boys running towards them - dressed up. Seeing their little faces and bright smiles brought a rush of calm over Sylvie. They weren't _deliberately_ trying to scare her after all...

“Hey little mans!” Sylvie said excitedly as she bent down to catch her boys as they sprinted towards her. They hit her at full force with their hugs, almost knocking her off her feet. Once she steadied herself, she tightly squeezed them. She was always happy when her kids came by the firehouse, she missed them terribly when they were on shift.

“Let me see your outfits” she said as they stepped back and stood proudly in front of her.

“I’m a pirate, Elliot’s a doctor!” Jack told her as Elliot straightened his little stethoscope and made sure the buttons of his white coat were secure.

Sylvie’s heart could have _burst_ over how proud they were of their outfits. She briefly looked up at Matt who was smiling just as widely down at their boys. She could only _imagine_ how her mom would react when she sent her the photos.

“You are the fiercest pirate and the smartest doctor I have ever seen.” Sylvie complimented as the boys giggled up at their parents. “Where’s TeTe and Annie?” Sylvie asked, calling Christie by the nickname the boys had given her when they were little. They couldn’t say Christie, but TeTe worked and they’d stuck with it ever since.

Before they could answer, they looked up and saw Christie walking towards them with Annie in her arms. Sylvie’s hand immediately clapped over her heart at the sight of her daughter.

“ _Oh my god_ …” she whined – the cuteness was almost _unbearable._ She was wearing a super fluffy monkey onesie and waving sweetly at her parents.

Matt reached for his daughter and held her out on front of him to look at her outfit.

“You are the sweetest little monkey I have ever seen Annie Casey” he said with a gulp as he pulled her in and held her tightly against his chest. He loved all three of his little monkeys so much and seeing them so excited in their costumes filled him with pure joy.

Annie rested her head on Matt’s shoulder and looked over at her mom, “Little monkey is absolutely right” Sylvie said as she repeatedly kissed Annie’s chubby cheek causing the little girl to giggle. She may have been fairly easy going, but she could be a cheeky trouble-maker when she wanted to be – all three of their Little Caseys could. "Thank you for dressing them up Christie"

"Oh it was my pleasure, I love Halloween!" she said excitedly as Sylvie looked at Matt and raised a brow. It appeared she was right about Matt deliberately keeping that one quiet...

“Wow, watch out 51!” they heard Hermann said behind them as everyone came outside. “We’ve got a pirate here, we better be careful or he might make us walk the plank…” he joked as Jack pulled out his toy sword and immediately started chasing Hermann, Gallo and Ritter around the apron.

Jack soon gently bashed Gallo with his sword and Gallo dramatically fell to the ground. “Dr. Elliot, help me!” he exclaimed, “I need surgery!”

“I’m coming!” Elliot said as he sprung into action.

Sylvie and Matt stood to the side with Annie and watched as the rest of 51 joined in with Jack and Elliot’s game. Somehow, Elliot ended up joining Jack’s side, so their calls for help fell on deaf ears.

“I think you're right. Halloween isn't such a bad night.” Sylvie said with a small smile on her face.

Matt smiled at her before he rested his hand in the dip between her shoulder and neck and quickly kissed her head.

If every Halloween could be like this, Sylvie had a funny feeling it could quickly become her favourite holiday of all.


End file.
